Somebody's grandma and grandpa. Children's responses to contacts with elders

This article describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a program that introduced children into a nursing home.

A qualitative descriptive design was employed to measure the responses of children to the program. The sample consisted of 61 children, including preschoolers and adolescents. Data were collected from children who participated in the activities (n = 33), and from children who had not participated (n = 28). Content analysis was used to analyze the data.

There were no differences in perceptions of preschoolers who participated or did not participate in the nursing home visitation program. In contrast, adolescents who had not participated in the activities with elders described physical infirmities and negative experiences with elders, and talked about smells and boredom. However, adolescent participants in the program demonstrated positive perceptions and descriptions of elders. A favorite activity for all ages was hearing the residents' stories and memories. Adolescent participants reported that their experiences and activities in the program had altered their opinions and beliefs, and they expressed the intent to include elders in their lives in the future.

Because adolescent children exposed to these visits expressed positive perceptions of elders it is prudent to plan larger scale studies with these populations, and also to evaluate the effects of the visits on nursing home residents.